It’s the Friday before Memorial Day in Boston and already the city is showing its holiday spirit. Historic Boston Common is now the venue of one of Memorial Day’s best shows of commemoration, the Military Heroes Garden of Flags.

This deeply moving site is one that can certainly be experienced by the 10 photographs you’ll see below, but nothing compares to seeing 37,000 planted flags first hand. Sitting on the slope of Boston Common on the slope in front of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument facing the Public Gardens, the flags pay homage to those who have died in the service of our country as well as to those currently serving.

As the flags are available for viewing in America’s oldest public park, catching a glimpse of them is free of charge. If you plan on trekking down to see them and perhaps snap a few pics of your own, keep in mind they won’t be there much longer. At sundown on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, the flags will be taken down.

But fret not! If you’re unable to attend Boston Common for whatever reason – maybe the weather’s too cold and wet, maybe you’re enjoying Boston Calling or maybe you’ve just gotten too comfortable on the couch – enjoy the photos below.